


I Won't Scare You, I Promise

by Skifazoa



Category: Original Work
Genre: Haunted House, M/M, Suicide, gay ghosts, ghost story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 21:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20347171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skifazoa/pseuds/Skifazoa
Summary: Two friends explore an old mansion where a great tragedy occurred years ago. Will they make it out?





	I Won't Scare You, I Promise

“Remind me again why we’re here?” Jake asked, passing his flashlight over a broken reception desk at the bottom of the stairs.

“Because I know how much you love old buildings!” Kate replied. “You’ve always loved books and history so much, and there’s some really old stuff here.”

“Are we even allowed to be here?”

“Of course! Well, sort of.

“…is that why we came at night?”

“Duh. Come here.”

Kate slid open the door of the library. Even the most recent footprints on the floor had a respectable layer of dust over the top of them. Jake shined his flashlight through the doorway, and his jaw dropped.

“Oh my God!” he squealed.

“I know, right?” Kate smiled. “But be quiet, you don’t want to disturb anything,” she said mysteriously.

“Oh no, I know that voice.” Jake said. “This is one of your stupid ghost pranks, isn’t it? I would have thought a senior in high school would have outgrown those.”

“Would I do that?” Kate asked, not looking at him. “I just really wanted to show you the house!”

Jake frowned. “Sure you did.” He turned back to the shelves. There were massive collections, many of which looked hand-bound. There were also thin volumes stacked by the dozens. He even saw a shelf with dusty scrolls piled on it. He let out a low whistle.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Kate said.

“It’s sure something.” Jake agreed. He went over to a book that was lying open on a table. He blew a layer of dust off the massive text, and tried to turn the page. Except there was no page to turn. He looked closer and realized that it wasn’t a real book. It was a carved piece of wood with parchment affixed to the exposed surfaces. The detail and craftsmanship was incredible. He could count the individual pages when he peered closer. “What is this?”

“Hm?” Kate came over and saw what he was looking at. “Oh! This used to be in the entrance hall. It’s a prop from the tour. This house was a historical museum before it was abandoned.

“What?!” Jake cried, scandalized. “That’s terrible! Who would abandon a museum?”

“It was publicly operated. The house went to the city when the owner died, but they couldn’t afford to keep it open for more than a few years.” Kate looked sideways at Jake. “Part of the reason it stayed open so long was the publicity, I’m sure. The owner died very young.”

“Oh great, now I know it’s a ghost prank.” Jake rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t think of anything better to do than scare me on my vacation? I came all the way from Chicago just to see you this weekend. Is scaring your best friend really how you want to spend tonight?”

“If I were going to scare you, surely I would be more secretive about it.” Kate protested. “It’s a scary story, but I’m not gonna, like, jump out at you or anything!”

Jake narrowed his eyes at her and moved along to the doorway at the other end of the room. It looked into what looked like a small sitting room. Shining his flashlight along the far walls, he saw a wide arch that opened into a grand dining room. He moved across the room and through the opening, footsteps muffled by the dusty carpet. The dining room table was set for twelve, with discolored food displays set along it. They were obviously fake, but years of grime made them appear all the more so. Jake read out the name card set at the first plate.

“King Constantine II of the Hellenes?” he read, confused. “What does he have to do with this house?

Kate chuckled. “I think his time here was short lived.” She paused and thought for a second. “A big-shot rail baron gifted it to the exiled Greek king in the seventies. It was quite the scandal. No one was quite sure how they knew each other.” She skipped over to a door in the side wall of the dining room and pushed it open. “But the story really begins down here!”

Jake followed her through the door, and into a large kitchen. Kate moved quickly to another door and pulled it open to reveal a set of steps leading down into a dark cellar. Seeing Jake’s face, she sighed.

“I promise on my mother’s grave that I will not scare you in the creepy dark cellar.” She intoned listlessly. Jake took a deep breath and followed his flashlight beam down the stairs. As he descended, he started sneezing. The air was thick with dust down here, and telltale squeaks and scuffles gave away that there were mice that weren’t too happy at being disturbed either. As Jake finally stopped sneezing, Kate started, and Jake laughed.

“You’re not gonna scare me making that much noise, that’s for sure!”

“Oh, shut up!”

Jake looked around the cellar, still smiling. There were shelves stacked with small barrels and kegs along one wall, but the bulk of the room was filled with a gigantic, ancient distillery.

“As I was saying,” Kate continued, sniffling a little, “The story starts here. This house was built for the mayor in 1917, but he got ousted from office when they found this distillery. The twenties, as I’m sure you know, were not a good time for distilling.”

Jake snorted softly. “You can say that again.” He looked around the distillery for a moment, then turned back to the stairs. “I can’t breathe; can we continue this history lesson upstairs?” As they walked back up through the kitchen, Kate kept talking about the history of the house.

“After the mayor was fired, the rail baron bought the house, and he lived a quiet life here for, like, ever! Like, fifty years! On his deathbed, he gave in to King Constantine, and that brings us up to the seventies.”

They came out another door in the dining room and out into the entrance hall. As they crossed the hall and entered a large, mirrored ballroom, Kate continued talking.

“But King Constantine immediately gave it to some distant cousin to keep him from trying to work his way back into the family. The cousin was American, and his son Aaron was the last owner of the house.” She shuddered, but Jake caught her watching him for a reaction as she spoke. “God, now _that’s_ a tragic story.”

“Why?” he asked, curious in spite of himself. “What happened?”

“His parents were killed in a car accident the day before he turned eighteen, and he never recovered from the shock. He put on a good façade, hosting parties and carrying on like a proper aristocrat, but there were always rumors that he was moody and emotional in private. This ballroom saw many a wild event.” She winked at him as she started turning circles in front of the mirrors. “The ladies around town swooned over him, thinking he was so dreamy.” She stopped suddenly and turned back towards him. “But my friend Jenny’s mother was the manor’s maid when she was younger, and she said that she only ever saw young men when she came in the morning, never women.”

Jake’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and Kate smirked at him. He stuck his tongue out at her. She bounced past him and out into the hall. As she walked up the stairs, she started speaking in a much more subdued tone that make Jake’s teeth itch. He followed her warily.

"Anyway, it all came out, so to speak, one morning when the mayor’s son Tom came running out of the house at six in the morning, screaming that Aaron had hung himself from the bedroom chandelier. The mayor launched a full investigation into the death, and it turned out that Tom had been seeing Aaron for over a year, and only he knew how badly Aaron was really doing. Tom said that he thought Aaron was finally starting to recover a little.” She paused, frowning. “He was absolutely heartbroken about it. Tom doubted their whole relationship for years after that.”

Jake’s eyes stung a little as he imagined what Tom, and Aaron, must have gone through. “When was this?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Kate took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. “Gosh, that must have been when we were…three? Four, maybe. I don’t remember it, and you were in Chicago, obviously.”

“God, that’s…” Jake trailed off, looking down at the floor. “…that really sucks.”

Kate sighed, patting him on the shoulder. “That’s an understatement.”

Jake’s watch beeped. He looked at it and sighed. “It’s midnight,” he murmured.

“Do you want to hear the rest of the story?” Kate asked.

Jake looked up at her with red eyes. “There’s more?”

Kate nodded solemnly. “After the investigation, Aaron’s will was read, and he’d left his estate to the city, with a considerable chunk of his money set aside for Tom. He and the mayor used the money to convert the house into a historical museum. There’s exhibits about the town, the railways, even Greece! But Aaron’s bedroom and the library were never opened to the public. Tom, understandably, didn’t want people in the bedroom, and the library has too many fragile documents. Unfortunately the funding ran out before they could get an archivist in here. So it’s just rotting away now.”

“If I lived here, my mom would do it for free in a heartbeat.” Jake laughed softly. “She’s hopeless when it comes to big projects like that. Can’t stand to see history in disrepair.”

“I keep saying you guys should move out here!” Kate said. “It’s seriously cool to have an archivist in your family. But all this is just the official history of the house. There’s the other part too.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.

“Oh, here it comes.” Jake said, smiling in spite of himself. “This is where the scare happens, right?”

“No.” Kate said firmly. “Just a scary story! Legend has it that Aaron never left the house, and that he still wanders late at night looking for his lover. He flirts with people that look like Tom, and starts wailing and crying when he realizes that it isn’t really him. It’s actually really spooky hearing the cries late at night. People say that hearing the moans makes you feel like you’ll never be happy again.”

She stopped outside an ornate set of double doors. “This is it.” She said. “This is Aaron’s bedroom.”

Jake looked at the door, a complicated expression on his face. “Did he really die in there?” he asked. Kate gave him a small nod. Acting on a sudden impulse, Jake reached out and grasped the door handle.

“Boo!” Kate grabbed him under the ribs. Jake jumped a good foot off the ground.

“Dammit, Kate!” he said angrily. “You know I don’t like scares involving suicides!”

Kate, who was doubled over laughing, choked through her giggles. “I’m sorry,” she laughed. “But your face! I can’t believe you fell for that! I didn’t even try!” She started laughing again in earnest. Jake’s face was the picture of fury.

“You never know when to draw the line, do you?” he yelled. “You’re always trying to scare people, but you don’t care about their feelings at all!” He turned back to the door and grabbed the doorknob. The door was locked. He groaned, frustrated.

Kate sobered up quickly as she remembered too late what she had forgotten. “I’m sorry I scared you. You’re right; it was insensitive of me,” she said, grasping his shoulder. “We can’t get in there, anyway. It’s always kept locked, and Tom has the only key.”

Jake let go of the doorknob. “Can you leave me alone for a minute?” He said quietly, looking down at the hall runner. He leaned his head against the door, and she squeezed his shoulder before letting go and walking away back down the hall.

Jake closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. It had been nine years since his big sister had killed herself, but it still rubbed raw. He let a tear roll down his face before standing up straight again. Jake looked at the door for another moment, and wondered if he had overreacted to Kate’s scare.

He sighed, and had just turned back to follow Kate when he heard the lock click behind him. The hinges creaked slowly as they opened. He saw Kate look back at him from the top of the stairs. Her face went white, and suddenly, Jake felt a twinge of genuine fear. Then he felt something cold press against his back.

“Tom? Is that you?” a sultry male voice said in his ear. Jake froze, feeling a cold hand slide across his stomach as the ghost embraced him. Another hand ran through his hair as he stammered nonsensically, trying not to scream.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I’m not.”

The hand, which had been running in lazy circles across his belly, stopped and withdrew suddenly. The cold body disappeared from his back, and Jake spun around to see the door slam shut again as a heart-breaking wail started to fill the house.

“Wait!” he cried. He grabbed the door handle, but it locked with a click that echoed down the hallway. Kate, who seemed to be regaining her senses, screamed, shaking Jake out of his stupor. She turned, and ran down the stairs, her terrified sobs mingling in the air with the wails. Jake ran down the hall after her, but the tragic cries didn’t subside. If anything, the din got louder, filling the house from skirting to vaulting and chasing the teens down the stairs.

“Jake!” Kate screamed. “I promise I’ll never try to scare you again!”

“You’d better not!” Jake yelled back.

Kate was yanking frantically on the front door, but it was locked. Jake tried pulling with her, but it wouldn’t budge. He started to panic, looking around wildly for another way out. But as he moved away from the door, his legs failed beneath him. He collapsed to the floor, looking up the stairs at the terrifying figure descending towards them.

Pale, with dark, wavy hair, Aaron’s ghost was beautiful even in death. But his eyes were dark, terrifyingly so. Looking into them, Jake felt any hope he’d had of escaping draining away. Looking into those eyes was like looking into hell itself. Not the fire and brimstone of renown, but the real hell. The darkness and hopelessness of being cut off from everything and everyone for all eternity. Those obsidian eyes held nothing but sadness and isolation.

Kate stumbled away from Aaron, falling to the ground a few feet from Jake. She was blubbering now, tears running down her face. Jake realized his own face was streaked with them as well. As Aaron approached them, the room seemed to get colder, the bruises on his neck seemed to grow darker, and tears ran from his black eyes. Jake thought he could hear bells tolling somewhere, joining the cries and moans in the house.

“Where are you Tom? I can’t find you.” Aaron cried. “I’m lost without you!”

“He’s not here!” Jake whimpered. “It’s too painful for him! His heart broke the day you died!”

Aaron stopped, slowly looking around for the voice, then back straight ahead. “Tom, is that you?” He continued as if he hadn’t heard them.

Jake was about to reply again when someone else spoke.

“Yes Aaron, it is. I’ve come home.” Another man walked out of the shadows from behind Kate. Aaron turned towards him, and Jake looked up at the man’s face. The new man could have been his older brother. His hair was the same rich brown as Jake’s, and his eyes were the same deep green.

“Tom?” Aaron said uncertainly. Then he broke out smiling. “Oh, Tommy!”

It was like magic. The room suddenly felt warmer, and Jake felt a spark of hope in his heart again. Kate looked like she was recovering as well. Jake looked up at Aaron, and was startled to see that he looked almost completely normal. He was still pale and ethereal, but his eyes, now a vibrant green, sparkled with a warmth that Jake would never have imagined possible in the darkness of just seconds before. Jake realized that the bells continued in the distance, but neither man took notice. Tom and Aaron were gazing into each other’s eyes with such a burning intensity that Jake started to feel like he was some sort of voyeur. He shifted uncomfortably, looking away, seeing Kate looking just as awkward as he felt.

“Come on Aaron, it’s time for bed.” Tom said, taking him by the hand, and leading him up the stairs. “It’s been a long day, and we need to get some sleep.” They ascended the stairs out of sight. Jake looked at Kate.

“Did you know Tom comes to calm Aaron’s ghost?” he asked.

“He doesn’t.” She said faintly. “That’s the town death toll. Someone on the city council died.”

Jake looked up the stairs. “You mean…?”

Kate nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

Jake slowly got up off the floor. He helped Kate up, and then tried the front door. It opened easily. The night was clear, and a half moon lit up the sky. Kate and Jake stood there for a minute, absorbing what they’d just witnessed.

“Well, Shakespeare’s got nothing on this.” Jake said.

“That’s the truth.” Kate said. They stood in silence for a moment.

“No one is ever going to believe this though.” Jake said.

“I will.” Aaron’s amorous voice spoke between them.

Jake and Kate screamed and ran without looking back. The ghostly lovers’ merry laughs filled the air, louder and louder under the moon.

And then they were gone.


End file.
